Song of the Spirits (90 page)

Elaine forced herself to move forward.

Just then, the band began to play in the salon. People began to push their way into the room, blocking Elaine’s view of the new guest. Her heartbeat slowed as she let herself be carried by the crowd. It was undoubtedly nonsense. She eventually made it back to Timothy, who was struggling to his feet.

“So, beautiful, will you dance with me?”

Elaine wanted to reply, but she felt a cold breeze at the back of her neck. She turned around nervously, and Timothy’s inviting smile froze when he saw the look of panic on her face. Elaine looked like she wanted to flee—but she seemed incapable of budging an inch. Within seconds, all the color had drained from her face.

“Lainie, what is it?”

“He’s… he’s…”

“Ah, there they are,” Marvin Lambert’s booming voice rang out. “Allow me to introduce you to a surprise guest. A very old friend of mine. How long has it been, John? This is John Sideblossom!”

Elaine stuck out her hand mechanically. Maybe this was all just a bad dream. Maybe she was hallucinating.

“My soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Lainie, and my son, Tim.”

Elaine felt as though the room were spinning around her. Perhaps fainting wouldn’t be such a bad idea. But then John Sideblossom took her hand, and the riotous fear that came over Elaine sharpened her senses.

“Lovely, lovely Elaine,” he said. His voice sounded hoarse. “I knew I’d find you. Someday, and under such pleasant circumstances. Mr. Lambert.” He smiled his predatory smile as he turned to Timothy. “What an enchanting conquest. What a shame that there are still defenders in place. You should not raise your flag over the castle until you’ve razed it.”

Though Elaine did not understand his words, she grasped the threat they contained. And then she could no longer stand it. She wanted to murmur an apology, but she only managed a gasp. She bolted in a panic, almost running into the study, from which there was no way to get outside. Elaine couldn’t think; she wasn’t looking where she was going—and she crashed into Kura, who was just entering the salon with two glasses of champagne. The drinks sprayed onto her cousin’s dress. Kura was about to curse, but she held her tongue when she saw the horror in Elaine’s face.

“Lainie, what’s wrong with you? Did you have a fight with Tim?” Kura looked at her quizzically. No, that couldn’t be it. Not even when Elaine had caught Kura with William on the street in Queenstown had she looked so pale and drawn, her eyes so big. The eyes of an animal in a trap.

“John Sideblossom. He… he…” Elaine took off, out of the salon and through the receiving room. She needed air. Gasping, she reached the brightly illuminated entrance, fled from the light, and saw Fellow, tethered along with two other horses that were pulling a wagon. Callie barked. Elaine had not noticed that the dog had followed
her. She bent down mechanically to stroke her… and heard footsteps behind her. She tensed up. John Sideblossom, she thought. But then she saw Callie’s tail wagging and recognized the sound of thudding crutches and Timothy’s typical dragging step.

“Lainie, there you are.” Timothy leaned on the beam to which the animals were tethered and took her in his arms. “My God, you’re shaking like a leaf. Now calm down.”

“I can’t calm down.” Elaine suddenly felt cold, as the sweat dried on her body. “That’s John Sideblossom… He’s… he’s going to…”

Timothy was scared too, but he had a capacity for quickly evaluating and mastering critical situations. In a mine, that could mean the difference between life and death. He stroked Elaine’s hair and spoke soothingly to her.

“Lainie, he’s not going to do anything tonight. At the very worst, he’ll ruin this party. But if he had wanted a scandal, he would have gone about it differently. He probably won’t make his move until tomorrow, or he’ll take it up with my father presently.”

“He’ll take it up with the constable, and then they’ll lock me up,” Elaine whispered. And then she suddenly realized that being arrested didn’t scare her. She was not afraid of a night in a cell. On the contrary. She would feel safer there.

“Look, Lainie, the constable is among our guests. We greeted him earlier. The same goes for the justice of the peace. If you’d like, I’ll call them over. We can retire to my apartments without making a scene, and you can give your testimony there.”

“Now?” Elaine asked. “Right now?” She vacillated between hope and fear.

“That way we’d cut Sideblossom off at the chase. Your divorce request could go out first thing tomorrow. Nothing more could happen to you after that. Calm down, Callie!”

Timothy turned impatiently toward the dog, who was suddenly barking wildly. Elaine pulled back from Timothy when she heard Callie’s yelping. Her face once again assumed an expression of despair as she stared over Timothy’s shoulder.

“What if my son does not want a divorce, Mr. Lambert?”

John Sideblossom stepped out of the shadows. He must have left the house by one of the side exits. He wore a long dark coat over his evening attire. It looked as though he were ready to leave. Timothy sighed with relief. Callie yapped.

“What if he’s hoping for a family reunion instead? That has been his greatest wish, Lainie, since that unfortunate accident.”

Elaine could not utter a word. She backed up in horror as John Sideblossom approached.

“But Elaine wishes for a divorce, Mr. Sideblossom,” Timothy said calmly. “Please be reasonable. Lainie very much regrets what she did, but your son unquestionably gave her every reason to do it. Please, leave us alone now.”

“No one asked you,” John roared before turning his raspy voice on Elaine again.

“You owe him, Lainie. From now on, you’re going to be an obedient wife to him. Thomas was always a little… hmm… weak. So I’ll keep an eye on you too.” He reached for Elaine, but then dodged backward as Callie sprang in between them, barking hysterically.

Timothy leaped in front of Elaine. “Not so fast, Mr. Sideblossom,” he said, his voice firm. “It’s time for you to take your leave.”

John grinned. “Or what? Are you trying to stop me from taking back our property?”

He struck without warning. His fist hit Timothy’s chin with force, knocking him to the side. Timothy, in no way prepared for the blow, fell to the ground heavily. When his injured hip hit the ground, he could not suppress a cry of pain. John kicked at Callie, who was still barking.

“Tim!” Elaine forgot all her fear. She knelt down next to him—an opportunity John took advantage of at once. More than that, he seemed to have figured it into his calculations. With lightning quickness, he yanked Elaine’s hands and bound them behind her back. Then he clamped a strip of cloth between her teeth so that she could not even scream.

Timothy turned on the ground, attempting desperately to get hold of something, but he could only watch helplessly as John hauled Elaine to her feet, picked her up, and threw her into the wagon.

“Just forget about her,” he said, sneering, as he untied his horses.

Timothy tried to roll into his way and stop the horses, though John would surely not have had any scruples about running them over him. He gave Timothy a kick to the ribs.

“You don’t really mean to fight me?” he said, laughing, and seemed to consider whether he should go after him again. However, he simply left Timothy lying there. He would not beat up a cripple. At least not any more than necessary.

John had come in a light delivery wagon that had a small cargo bed and a raised driver’s box in front. Elaine lay in the back without moving. John supposed he had hurt her when he threw her on the wagon. Well, he could worry about that later. The main thing was that she was still. He calmly turned his team. Why attract attention? If only that damned dog would stop its yapping. He felt for his gun, but realized that if he shot the beast, the people inside the house would hear. It was better to leave the mutt behind. He brought his horses to a gallop.

Kura was looking for Elaine and Timothy, but found only William, who was chatting at the bar with someone. She took him aside.

“Lainie is completely beside herself! She thinks she saw Sideblossom. And I can’t find Tim anywhere either.”

“Well, Tim can hardly run away,” William said. He was no longer entirely sober.

“William, this is serious! Elaine was wild with fear. Heaven knows where she is.”

“If I had to guess, behind Madame Clarisse’s piano. Elaine always runs off when something scares her; you know that. And how is Sideblossom supposed to have come here? He’s paralyzed and as good as blind.”

Kura shook him. “Not the younger one! The old one! Now come on, William. We need to find them. If it was a false alarm, all the better. But I’m telling you. Elaine saw somebody. And if it wasn’t John Sideblossom, then the way she looked, it must have been the devil himself!”

William pulled himself together. He still thought it unlikely that John Sideblossom could have made an appearance. On the other hand, the fellow was an old Coaster just like Marvin Lambert, and one could not entirely rule out an acquaintanceship.

But running around heedlessly like Kura, who had already darted off, was senseless. William reflected briefly. What he had said about Elaine was true. She did not face her problems; she ran. If she really had seen John Sideblossom, she would already be on long gone. But where to? To Madame Clarisse’s? Or farther away? William made for the front door. And then he heard Callie barking. It wasn’t very loud. In fact, it sounded like the barking was growing more distant. William broke into a run.

“Over here, help!”

William was standing in the entrance, trying to get his bearings, when he heard Timothy calling. He looked over to the left of the lighted approach. Timothy was trying desperately to pull himself up on the hitching post. He appeared to be hardly able to move his left leg.

“Wait, I’ll help you…” William was going to pick up the crutches, but he was suddenly struck by an awful suspicion. If Timothy had merely fallen over, he would have had the crutches nearby.

“Leave me!” Timothy shooed William away vehemently. “Go after Lainie! That son of a bitch stole her away. A transport wagon, two horses, headed to Westport. You can catch up to them. Take my horse!”

“But you—”

“Don’t mind me. I can help myself. Now, get going!”

Timothy groaned. Fiery knives seemed to be shooting through his hips. It would have been utterly hopeless for him to try to catch up to John Sideblossom on his own, even if he could have somehow gotten on a horse. “Go!”

William set a hesitant foot in the strange stirrups.

“But Westport? Wouldn’t he be headed south—”

“For the love of God, I saw him drive away! And how should I know what he wants in Westport! Maybe he has accomplices there. Or in Pukaiki. Go find out! Go!”

Timothy lost his grip on the hitching post and fell back to the ground, but William was finally swinging himself into the saddle. When he dug his heels into Fellow’s flanks, the horse grunted fractiously. The heavy box stirrups stuck painfully into his sides. Fellow flung himself around and dashed off at a full gallop. At first, William was out of control. The lightning start had knocked him completely off balance, but falling out of that special saddle was as good as impossible. Timothy thought momentarily of Ernie’s concerns when making the saddle. He prayed Fellow did not stumble now.